Harmony in the Symphony of Life.

Forgiveness
Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future. from: http://www.thoughtfortoday.org.uk

See the Sweetness
No matter how bad people may seem, they possess at least one virtue. Be like the humming bird and pick out the sweetness of everyone's character. http://www.thoughtfortoday.org.uk


Tolerance
Someone who cannot tolerate small ills can never accomplish great things.
from: http://www.thoughtfortoday.org.uk

Silence
In the ocean of silence you may discover your eternal treasures of peace, love and happiness. In silence, you can let bad feelings and past sorrows dissolve. In silence you can hear the whisper of God saying "Come child and rest with Me. You are a peaceful soul."from: http://www.thoughtfortoday.org.uk

Thoughts And Actions

The thoughts you create and the actions you do have to be the same. Create good thoughts and bring them into action. Your actions will then be successful. from: http://www.thoughtfortoday.org.uk

Create Harmony
To create harmony I have to co-operate with everyone. Through co-operation there is success. For this, I have to have the firm determination to keep working with love. Keep doing everything with love. from: http://www.thoughtfortoday.org.uk/

After a busy week, I try to take a few moments of reflection before I start the weekend. This morning I went back and re-read the "thought for today", one after the other. Wow, how the week progressed and linked together. From Forgiveness to Harmony... here's my thoughts and musings:

Forgiveness. What a great foundation for the week and for life. We all have been hurt, wronged, tormented, etc... by another/others as individuals or as a culture. It hurts and is easy to hang on to the negativity and hate that is generated from such wounds. However, if we can't find forgiveness, we remain stuck in the past, unable to be truly in the present or look toward a better future. The past keeps us buried and stagnant, each step is through the mud and muck of anger, the darkness of hatred and a fear and pain of a hurting heart.

When we open our hearts to forgive we are allowing Peace, Love, and Compassion into our souls. The moment this happens, there is a feeling of lightness, of wholeness. The heart stops aching, and starts healing. The thoughts start changing and happiness fills the void that once was there. Now there is a feeling of Hope, Compassion, Peace and Love. Possibilities unfold before you. You are able to walk on firm ground and take your place in the sun. When we look with forgiveness, we start to see the goodness (sweetness) in others. We can celebrate our differences and see similarities we all share. There is a unity, a wholeness, a foundation, if you will, of humanity.

Once we build this foundation of forgiveness, we begin building a better, a stronger world. We see the sweetness and goodness inside each individual and find tolerance there. I may not live or believe everything as you do but, we can accept our differences and live together, as brothers and sisters of the world. It's in joining together that we become strong. Just like building a strong building, you have to have a firm foundation or all will eventually fail. Each and every individual part of construction must work side by side, together, to create a structure that will withstand the elements. Each individual board, each brick, each nail fits together, one next to the other, in this building called life.

Forgive, See the Sweetness and Tolerate each and every "brick" in this building of humanity. Then sit in silence and take in all that's around you, in you and let your thoughts go through you. Hear the rhythm of humanity pulse through you: each beat of Forgiveness, each beat of Compassion, each beat of Hope, each beat of Peace, each beat of Love ... listen to the Harmony of life. In this silent place you are not alone. There is a Guiding force, a Guiding Light, that envelops you, holds you, carries you, walks with you.... In Silence, listen, hear, feel, and know... it's there, it is part of you guiding you out of the past, into the now, giving you the knowledge and wisdom to create a better future. Listen.... to the Silence....The voice of the soul..... The Conductor of Life.

By listening to the Silence and hearing the voice of Love, we find a way to let our thoughts take form through our actions. We can take these Forgiving, Hopeful, Peaceful, Loving Compassionate thoughts and turn them into our daily actions. By doing this, we take our place next to our brothers and sisters of the world and create such a strong, wondrous building called Life. In, With and Through each of us, we join together in the Unity of Love and build a stronger world. With a Loving Heart All Things Are Possible.

May each of us find forgiveness in our hearts and see the sweetness in others. May we find tolerance; to accept with a loving heart, the differences we have and celebrate our similarities, and take our place next to our brother and sisters of humanity to build a stronger world. May we listen in silence to the wisdom of Life and hear the beat of our being, our soul, our unity. May our thoughts and actions be out of Compassion and Love to create Peace and understanding. May we each resonate our uniqueness, and join together in Harmony in the Symphony of Life.


We are all part of Life's Story, let's make sure it has a Happy ending.

Written with Love and Light, Nina P

Silence....

Silence:

It is when we silence the chattering of our mind that we can truly hear what is in our heart and find the still, clear purity that lies within the soul. Spiritual love carries us into the silence of our original state of being. This silence contains the power to create harmony in all relationships and the sweetness to sustain them. From: Thought for Today; www.thoughtfortoday.org.uk

of course I have to add my interpretive 2 cents...

Phone ringing, dog barking, kids screaming, dinner burning, toilets plugged, TV’s on Radio’s blaring, horn honking, baby crying, door bell buzzing, late for work, car won’t start,….

How on earth can anyone find silence? Life’s too crazy, to busy, to NOISY to even stop and think let alone be silent. The only clear purity seems to be the chaos called life. And to top it all off, the mind is racing with things to do, places to be, past conversations, idea’s, wishes, regrets, don’t forgets, what next, anger, love, lust, hate, frustrations, hardships, should have, could have, oh no I did, maybes, how can I, if only I ____, etc…, …. Again, I say, how can we silence the chattering of the mind and chaos of life?

Steal a moment for yourself that’s how. Sit in your favorite chair, go to your favorite place, wherever you can be with yourself and not be interrupted. For me it’s outside with nature, sitting under a shade tree or near a stream or pond. For you maybe it’s by the ocean, or lake, a walk in the park, a hot shower, or long soaking tub.... No matter where it is, make sure you are comfortable and have some time; time for you. Take five minutes, ten or even an hour if you can. It’s OK to be selfish sometimes. This type of selfishness will bring such harmony; it will empower you beyond imagination.

Breathe deep….in….out…. Let your shoulders relax……

Breathe deep…in…out…. Let the day roll away …….

Breathe deep…in….out…listen to the sound of your breathing…..

Breathe deep…in…..out…… let your mind wander…….

Breathe deep…in…out……feel the stresses ease………

Breathe deep…in….out…. and let go of frustrations……
Breathe deep…in….out…. and feel your body relax……
Breathe deep…in….out… and feel the air as it moves through you…..
Breath deep….in…out….. listen to the steady rhythm of your heart ..
Breathe deep…in…out….. let your soul wander……
Breathe deep….in…out…hear the quiet whisper of silence…..
Breathe deep…in…out….. feel the love around you……
Breathe deep….in…out…let the stillness overtake you…..
Breathe deep…in…out..listen to the wings of angels gracing your presence
Breathe deep…in….out…. sense the pure essence of yourself…..
Breathe deep….in….out….feel the Light envelope your soul….
Breathe deep ….in…out…listen to the Spirit of eternity…..
Breathe deep…in….out….. find the stillness of Peace…..
Breathe deep…in…..out….listen to the harmony of the ages entering your being….
Breathe deep…in…out….feel the Grace and Power of the Spirit…….
Breathe deep....in...out...feel the calming energy, giving you Peace and Understanding….
Breathe deep ..in...out...and know Unconditional Love; holding you, protecting you...
Breathe deep and feel the essence of your life…….
Breathe deep… and know all that you are and all you can be …..
Breathe deep and take the harmony of life with you..
Breathe deep and feel embraced with new found purpose and power.
Breathe deep and let yourself wander in this wonderful Spiritual Bliss.

When you are ready, look around and see the beauty of life; feel the warmth of love within yourself; touch the purity of your heart; hear the harmony of your soul; and taste the sweetness of life. You are armed with the knowledge and power of the Spirit. Your mind quiets, your heart opens, and you are ready for whatever life has to offer.

For me, when I listen to the silence within, I have balance in my life. I'm empowered with the knowledge of my being and filled with pure Spiritual Love. A Peaceful harmony fills my heart and soul allowing for fuller relationships and a less stressful life. The secret is to find time to quiet the mind and listen to the beautiful Spirit, the Light if you will, that lives in us and guides us every day.

May you take time to listen to the silence of your heart.... and may you find the peaceful power of the Loving Spirit guiding you through relationships filling them with a renewed sweetness for life.

written with Love and Light, Nina P.

Be Color Full, not Color Blind...

I wrote "Be Color Full not Color Blind" while going to an interfaith look @ the holocaust course. http://holocaustroad.org/ (It also was inspired by & coincided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day) It was a very powerful course bringing up strong emotions in me.

This extreme hate can not enter the world again, it can destroy us.

There is a common thread; a True Core, a common Essence of/in most people (and dare I say religions): It is Unity of Spirit, Love, Hope & Peace. There have been many Great Teachers of these Core values from all cultures, all faiths and beliefs, that have lived throughout the ages. They all have the common teaching of Unity, Love, Hope & Peace. Maybe this common thread can bind humankind together: If, instead of cutting at it with hate and greed; we embrace it and nurture it with, kindness, compassion and love for each other as individuals, brothers and sisters in the family of humankind; Then this thread can create a tapestry so intricate and beautiful... a tapestry of Faith, Hope and Love.....

It is the ego and greed of individual people (and again dare i say individuals in various religions ) that twist the core the essence of Faith and make it into a perverted mix of the Truth of the Core Beliefs, with the sick/twisted greed, ego and hate driven dogma that they teach. They gain "believers" through fear and teaching hate and intolerance.... they promise a brotherhood, a family to those looking for something just out of their reach. These "leaders" bring people into their fold first with promises, people want to believe, they want to belong, so they follow... the "leader" gains strength, and power and their followers hold them up as golden or great... this "leader" has the answer and can do no wrong...... This "leader", now has control of the followers...... and now can use force to keep people in line.... force to spread their hate... and people blindly follow and believe; they've lost themselves to this "greater force"..... At least that is what they are taught to believe.

It's easy to get caught up in all of this. Its even easier to look the other way.... but we can't, we must not let hate take hold... We must learn from the lessons of the ages, look deeper to the Truth, The Core in all of us.

Go inside yourself.........to your essence your core..... leave what outside ego's have taught.... leave hate, sorrow, regrets.....leave the negative emotions.. let them fall away, .... forget what's around you..... go deep within..... Sit in your favorite place..... a quiet place.......a place where you feel safe from the outside world, .... go without fear ...... deep into yourself... deep into your soul.... your very essence......your core........ I dare say what you will find is a Peace and Tranquility, a Love for Life, a Spirit of Unity and Belonging.... This is what we need to pass on, belong to.....

May we all find this inner Peace and pass along the Unity of Life....May we see through the storms of hate and destruction and find the True Rainbow of Hope and Peace that is waiting and wanting to come out, in, with and through all of us... Nina P. 3/20/09

Be Color Full not Color Blind

I hear over and over we need to be color blind in order to get along. I disagree. I think we need to be Color Full! We need to celebrate all the hues and colors of the world, by acknowledging our differences and accepting our similarities.
Our differences make us individuals; unique to ourselves with individual talents and knowledge. Our similarities unite us as people in this world called the human race. The air you breathe across the ocean is the air I breathe here. The sun that warms you is the same sun that warms me. The moon and stars that make your night sky magic are in my night sky too. We share the same things.
A child’s laughter makes me smile and cries of hunger and pain tear at my soul. I want clean water to drink and food to feed my family. I want to trust my neighbors and walk where ever I’d like without fear. If I were to ask you, would you want the same?
As children we fight because we don’t know how to express ourselves in any other way. So we pout, push, shove, hit and bite when we don’t get what we want. Once we get older, there are other ways of expressing our emotions. Actual fighting decreases as we learn to talk, communicate, and listen. Listening is just as important as talking. If we only talk and never listen, we may miss the answer we’re looking for. If we all talk and never listen, no one hears. If we only speak and there is no communication, there is only noise. Communication takes both talking and honest open listening to work. Honest and open communication can fix many problems without fighting. Haven’t we all had a friend or loved one we argued with, shut down our listening skills with, only to come back with a calmer more open mind to sit down and talk and listen (communicate) with the other person and come up with a mediated solution. Little children fight, as adults, we should talk and listen; communicate, find the common ground between us.
If you cut yourself, do you bleed red? So do I. When you fall do you get bruised or broken? So do I. When a loved one dies, do you cry? So do I. If we were color blind, I couldn’t see all the similarities between you and me. I would only see a segment, a slice, a spot of what there really is. I would be blind to reality. The reality of each similarity we share is part of being color full. Being color full unites us like the beauty of a rainbow. If there were only one color, one hue, the beauty would not be the same. It takes all colors, all the hues uniting to make the wondrous beauty of the rainbow.
Music is monotone with only one tone. A painting is monochromatic without many colors. What would our senses be with only one texture, one color, one flavor, and one scent, one thought? It’s the variety that makes up life and makes life interesting. Each grain of sand is different from its neighbor; yet together they form a great desert or beach. Each leaf is unique to itself, yet join together to form a tree, a plant, or a vine. A flower isn’t a flower with only one unique petal. Nature knows the value, the beauty of being color full, not color blind. Why can’t we?
Nature doesn’t care that some leaves turn yellow while others red or brown or even stay green. A mosaic of beauty is formed by each individual leaf when they stand together as a community of leaves. Why can’t we see the uniqueness of each individual coming together to form a glorious collage called humankind?
We are each individuals unique to ones self. Not your sister, brother, mother, father, no other person is exactly like you, like me. Should I then hate my family because they are different from me? No of course not. We need to put aside hate, put aside color blindness and look around with a new spirit, in a new way, with a new sense of belonging. We are all individual pieces in this One World. The puzzle isn’t complete unless each piece is placed in its own special space; that only that particular piece can fill.

Put down hate, put down fighting, put down killing, put down addictions; put down everything that makes us weak. Let us look at each other as individual strokes in this masterpiece called life. Each of us is beautiful, has a purpose and belongs to the world’s canvas. Without each stroke, (each and every one of us, here, living together), the painting would’t be. Stand back and see the grandeur of the canvas, the Unity of the Master Painter, the beauty of each of us together. The world is a Color Full place. Won’t you join me; put our individual selves in the painting of humankind, and be a part of the Master Peace?

Written to unite a Color Full World,
By Nina P. 1/18/09 with edits by Terri P.

Anniversary Rose... One of my first musings....

This was originally written for 2 dear friends of mine for their 10th anniversary! L & V I hope you don't mind my sharing......

The Anniversary Rose

Love is like a rose garden
Adventurous beauty to behold

Each petal differs’ us apart
Soft beauty and imperfection

Focusing on the single
Some see all that’s wrong

Negatively they have focused
On the blemishes we have

Same petals viewed with different eyes
The positive is seen

The silk, the hue, the glory shine
Gentle beauty all within

We see you both as beautiful
Soft petals that you are

Distinct is each, and yet together
More precious than a rose

Many years you have in common
To compliment each other

To share life’s gifts of love and joy
And all its many laughter’s

As roses do, we too have thorns
Sorrows, anger and resentments

Together you have grown through these
And focused on life’s best

You are roses with such color
Your growth forever shines

Your garden it has flourished
You’ve nurtured it with care

So tenderly you cultivate
To forgive with thoughtfulness

Each of you so wonderful
Individuals you are

May your love continue growing
With all the joy you have found

Written for 2 dear friends
by Nina P. Ploetz 1995